Eating a poor diet increases the likelihood of developing depression

It is known that food preferences significantly affect health. But today, experts have proven that changing your diet can help get rid of some depressive disorders.

For some patients, changing their diet may be the first significant step towards a healthy life. Recently, many facts have appeared that high levels of fat and carbohydrates in foods are harmful not only to the figure, but also to the state of mind. Such a diet starts a chain reaction in the brain, which eventually leads to depressive disorders.

The US Department of Defense has launched a research project in which a group of military personnel will consume certain nutritious foods every day. As a result, scientists will determine whether dietary changes can reduce suicide rates among retired military personnel.

The European Union has launched a project called “Happiness Products” to determine how healthy foods affect a person’s mental health.

In one of psychotherapist Felicia Jacka's research projects, patients were offered dietary changes in addition to drug therapy.

If it turns out that healthy eating helps block the onset of severe symptoms of the disease, then this will mean that a simple and effective method of adjuvant treatment of mental disorders has been found.

The connection between physical and mental health was first discovered about a quarter of a century ago, when doctors expressed concerns that stress and poor mental health negatively affected the human immune system. However, the opposite turned out to be true: in patients with severe depressive disorders, the immune system worked quite actively. For example, large amounts of cytokine protein, which is released during injuries or inflammation, were found in the blood of such patients.

This phenomenon interested specialists and after some research they came to the conclusion that the process is two-way – just as depression can provoke an inflammatory process, so inflammation can cause the development of a depressive disorder. Often, patients with cancer or arthritis complain of depression long before the diagnosis is established. Mike Mace (one of the first scientists who began to study the biological origin of depression) noted that people begin to suffer from depression much earlier than the main disease is diagnosed, for example, cancer, which may be associated with an increased level of cytokine.

Another scientific experiment, conducted by Naomi Eisenberger, a researcher at the University of California, clearly demonstrated evidence of the relationship between mental and physical health.

In her experiment, Eisenberger gave volunteers a small dose of E. coli, which did not cause poisoning but increased the activity of the immune system and the production of cytokines. As a result, all participants showed symptoms of depression throughout the day: a feeling of loneliness, inattention from others, a bad mood, and an inability to experience pleasure.

Recent studies show that depressive disorders should be viewed in a completely different light, not only as a disease of the soul, but also of the body. This indicates that harmful foods should be added to the factors that provoke depression. It has now been established that large amounts of fat and sugar in foods increase fatty tissue, thereby increasing inflammatory processes. However, it is also known that some substances, such as omega-3, selenium, and zinc, have an antioxidant effect that reduces inflammation and restores the brain after damage.

A few years ago, some studies forced experts to change their views. In one study, when changing diet (from a traditional Mediterranean menu to fast food), it was found that fast food doubled the risk of developing depression.

Similar results were found among British civil servants: those who loved fatty and sweet foods were 60% more likely to suffer from depressive disorders.

Also, psychotherapist Jaki's research confirmed the relationship between fast food and the development of depression. She was able to prove that the consumption of leafy vegetables, wine, olive oil reduces inflammation and reduces the likelihood of depressive disorders by 40%.

In addition, even drinking water can affect your mental state. An experiment conducted by employees of the North Texas Medical Research Center revealed that the presence of selenium in water helps cope with inflammation and reduces the risk of developing depression by 17%.

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